Russia to station three new warships in Sevastopol
Three Project 11356 frigates will be included in the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea by the end of this year. This was said by the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Alexander Vitko.
According to him, the second ship in the new series of Russian patrol ships will be added to the fleet in the fall.
“It is planned that the second ship of this project, Admiral Essen, will be added to the fleet in the fall. This ship has passed all of the required tests. After taking part in the Day of the Navy parade, the ship will be transferred from the Baltic Fleet to the Black Sea Fleet. We expect that the third ship of the 'Admirals' series, Admiral Makarov, will be transferred to Sevastopol at the end of the year. The dynamics and results of its tests makes this possible,” Russian media quoted Vitko as saying.
Vitko reiterated the fact that the lead frigate of Project 11356, Admiral Grigorovich, is already at the service of the Black Sea Fleet.
According to the plans of Russia’s Ministry of Defense, the country had initially planned to place six frigates of the new series in the Crimea before 2020. However, construction of the three remaining ships had to be stopped as Ukraine refused to supply Russia with the required turbine engines.
Russia also intends to deploy a set of S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems to Crimea in August. These systems were manufactured and supplied by the JSC Concern Almaz-Antey, and were ordered by the Defense Ministry to equip the 18th anti-aircraft missile regiment.
The Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev, had previously reported that the Russian military command placed up to 80,000 personnel in the Crimea. Russia also created conditions for the deployment of nuclear weapons in the occupied area.
The US, NATO, and Ukraine has voiced concerns over the creeping militarization of the Crimea by Russia.